we'll show you the incredible aftermath. elizabeth warren hand picked by the president. he wants her to build a new consumer protection agency and to keep the big banks in line. but will this new office or appointment hold any real power? and disappointing news this morning, a surge in illegal drug use. its highest level in nearly a decade. ecstasy, meth, and marijuana are fueling the surge. jean meserve is looking at why pot may not be such a big deal. go to cnn.com/amfix. >> up first, we want to get to the weather. thousands scrambling for a way to work in the dark after a powerful storm tore through new york city. >> national weather service still hasn't confirmed if it was a tornado that touched down. but they're going to find out today for sure. a lot of residents say we don't

need any confirmation. we know what we saw. >> reporter: it seemed to hit out of nowhere. >> you can see the rain coming down in sheets now. >> reporter: a fast-moving, ferocious storm exploded over new york city and the surrounding area just as people were headed home in the afternoon rush. commuters became storm chasers. and in a matter of minutes, sheets of rain, dark black clouds, 80-mile-an-hour winds. powerful enough to rip the brick off of store fronts. and for block after block, from brooklyn to queens, trees came down crushing cars, blocking roads, ripping down power lines. one woman was killed when a tree came down on her car after she pulled over on the highway. >> the only thing that's important is that people are safe. we can always get power back, the trees will regrow, but if you lose a life, you never get that back. >> reporter: severe weather also slammed parts of the midwest. people in ohio say they saw a

funnel cloud leave this trail of debris. and high winds tipped over this tractor-trailer as neighbors looked on in shock. >> and i thought it was going to take my house and my family, but it didn't. >> i looked at my wife and i said we've got to run right now. >> well, there you see it. it wasn't just new york, but parts of the midwest, as well. rob marciano this morning to talk more about this. what did we see yesterday here in new york? when will we know if it was actually a tornado? >> they're going to send a storm survey team out there today and look at it and they'll look at the damage and the pattern of it and the extent of it. there was definitely high wednesday that went through there. this is the radar between 4:00 and 7:00 yesterday. obviously bright colors are bad on these things. and when you get them lined up. and the closer radar shows things bowing out. and that will definitely take down trees and do some damage. there was some circulation spotted on the doppler radar. but the problem is, there was so

much rain in the area, it was rain wrapped and hard to see. quite possible it was a tornado. either way, the damage is done. we talked about how strong this system was. it did do damage in ohio. this was a substantial tornado that rolled into west virginia, and numerous wind reports across parts of new york city. this is the radar now. much calmer conditions today. most of the energy well off to the north and east, and we don't anticipate severe weather with this system. karl is now a major hurricane. category three storm and it's going to slam into mexico this afternoon. back to you guys in new york. >> thanks. >> you bet. well, there's a new sheriff coming to town. the white house says that she'll be keeping a close eye on wall street and the fat cats who gambled away all of those 401(k)s. >> her name is elizabeth warren. this afternoon, the president plans to introduce her as his new special adviser. her goal, set up a consumer

protection agency. keep the big banks on the straight and narrow. ed henry is live at the white house this morning. ed, elizabeth warren apparently not afraid to tango with wall street elite. will she have power? >> that is going to be the big question. she's been fearless about taking on the big banks and this obama administration, frankly, in her role as chair of the congressional oversight panel of those t.a.r.p. bailouts. she's been tough about keeping them honest about whether they are really being tough on wall street, et cetera. what's interesting is we talk a lot about the maneuvering for big jobs in washington that may or may not have an impact on our viewers' lives. this is a role that could touch the lives of all of our viewers because she's going to be helping to set up this new agency that is basically going to touch a lot of peoples' lives. consumer protection agency that's going to basically be in charge of making sure banks are dealing with all of these new

credit card laws, and also overseeing student loan changes taking place. but also, providing free credit scores to consumers. bottom line is coming out of all of the financial bailouts, the crises, making sure that consumers have a say in all of these big debates in washington. but you're right, the question about her power is very relevant here because the president decided not to make her the actual head of this new agency. instead, she's going to be an adviser. why did he do that? because republicans have been blocking many of his nominees in the senate. this would be a confirmable position if she was the head of the actual agency. so this sort of goes around that in a way. and enables her to just set up the new office but not actually run it. this is pleasing a lot of liberal groups who want to see her in a key role. but many of them are saying privately, look, maybe she's going to essentially be the chair of all of this behind the scenes. but the white house is saying, no, that's not what's going to happen. she's going to set this up and probably move on.

there'll be someone else they'll name that the senate will have to confirm. in the end, there may be disappointment on the left the if she's not running it and doesn't really have some of the power that you mentioned. drew, kiran. >> we're talking about the extension of the bush era tax cuts and the middle class and whether or not that will kick up to the highest income earners, as well. nancy pelosi seemed to leave the door open yesterday. what came of what she was saying when it came to whether or not she'd introduce this legislation? >> well, you're right, democrats pounced on john boehner's remarks. there was a split because he left the door open to just passing the extension with middle class tax cuts, not tax cuts for the rich. he since sort of walked that back. nancy pelosi was planning to bring up a stand alone bill of extending the middle class tax cuts. hey, look, this will put republicans on the spot ahead of those elections, but now there's a few dozen conservative

democrats saying, look, we're not going to support just an extension of the middle class, you're essentially raising taxes on the rich in the middle of this recession that keeps going on and on. nancy pelosi may not have the votes to pass the middle class tax cuts only. that's why she's sort of leaving the door open to other things and shows there's not just been a split maybe in the republican leadership, but a split among democrats about what to do here. it's a thorny issue. going to play a big role in the elections coming up here. >> ed, thanks. the president scheduled to introduce warren at a 1:30 news conference. be following that along with ed henry at the white house. meantime, john stewart and stephen colbert are ready to rally. the two are planning their own national mall rebuttal rallies at the end of october. here's stewart announcing his gathering on last night's show. >> for tonight i announce the rally to restore sanity.

we will gather! we will gather on the national mall in washington, d.c.! 1 million moderate march where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says, we are here! we're only here, though, until 6:00, because we have a sitter. a call for rationality. >> well, not to be outdone, stephen colbert then called on all freedom-loving patriots to march on the same day at the same time for his "keep fear alive" rally. and, of course, cnn, equals politics, we'll be breaking down the big political stories of the day with our senior editor mark preston. >> and some of the biggest are right there. some other stories this morning. it should be over another couple of days. drilling on a relief well. bp can now proceed with the

bottom kill. that's the process where they're going to dump that heavy drilling mud and cement from the new well into the bottom part of the original well permanently sealing it. officials expect that to be completed by sunday. well, the mother of missing teenager natalee holloway reportedly sneakednto a prison cell in peru to have a face-to-face encounter with joran van der sloot. be the meeting reportedly lasting five minutes before prison authorities removed her. the peruvian news reporter said he would not answer any questions about natalee hollow y holloway's disappearance in which he's been a prime suspect in aruba back in 2005. a new book. did she say life in the white house was "hell?" the first lady of france's new book. 10 minutes after the hour.

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baltimore's johns hopkins hospital. a doctor shot in the abdomen will fully recover. police say a 50-year-old gunman fired the single shot after the doctor was telling this guy about the condition of his mom. witnesses say the suspect barricaded himself on the eighth floor. he then fatally shot his mom and then turned the gun on himself. a spokesman for first lady michelle obama denied that she said that life inside the white house is hell. a new book on carla broonny said she said that. the french embassy in washington also says, hey, it never happened. well, they gave it a try, didn't work out for one university. they wanted to see if they could keep the students off facebook and other social networking sites. it was harrisburg university of science and technology. they announced last week they were going to block access to places like facebook, twitter,

aol's instant messenger and make students reflect on the role it plays in their lives. apparently they reflected their way out of the university grounds to find a way around it. they said students did find a way around the firewall. some walked three blocks off campus, and others figured out how to hack it and were able to breakthrough with their skills. >> good for them, science and technology, right? >> they were also taking part in that experiment that they can't live without and they're going to do something about it. they need their twitter. she went hunting for al gators in south carolina. oh, boy did, she get one. she hooked this humongous gator. can you believe that? 13 feet long, 900 pounds. she says it took her husband and her and a few friends a couple of hours to finally win that battle. >> -- just pumping and pumping,

and he was enormous. you could see this part of him coming out of the water. his big belly, and then you saw his head because his head had to come out for me to shoot him. >> all right, well, i hope she's going to actually eat all that gator meat. you know, she can serve it for thanksgiving, christmas, new year's, jerky some of it, have it next year. >> couple of belts. >> there you go. coming up, flying the friendly skies. which airlines americans like the best and why. "usa today's" eye in the sky breaks it down for us on this day. it is 15 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] where are people with moderate to severe

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. we are minding your business now. they are famous for their low fares, but there's much more that airline passengers like about discount carriers. >> yeah, apparently happy with the service, as well. "usa today" ranked 12 airlines for overall customer satisfaction. and at the top, jetblue, hawaiian, southwest airlines, delta, united, and u.s. airways ranked at the bottom. joining us from the bottom, ben. thanks for joining us, ben. >> my pleasure. >> is it a coincidence that passengers are ranking the lower-cost airlines as their favorites when it comes to customer satisfaction? >> well, you know, as you might expect, there's a lot going on here. you know, of course, you saw the three lowest rated airlines were traditional airline and the three highest are two discount carriers and hawaiian airlines.

but, you know, look, the legacy carriers at the bottom were going through a lot for the last five years when this survey was conducted. and they were going through bankruptcy, employee morale was low, and, you know, that doesn't help service. on the flip side, these low-cost carriers were smaller even just a few years ago, they're still growing, that obviously helps employee morale. no layoffs, not as many cutbacks. and, you know, it's easy to stay happy when you have a happy workforce. in a nutshell, that's part of the reason that explains the difference between these two types of airlines. >> as a traveler, i've got to ask you, isn't the difference now just the price? because basically it's the same service. you have no real great service on the big airlines. you just pay a higher price. it's kind of a reduced expectation. >> you know, a lot of times the bigger airlines will even match those prices any more. so i think a lot of it is expectations. when you pay, you know, $79 to fly southwest, for example, you

may not expect a whole lot, but if you pay $99 to fly a bigger airline, you may remember, you may associate delta and united with the glory days of panam back in the day, and people have these expectations that are perhaps a bit higher for the bigger airlines. but i think you're also starting to see a turn. now that the bigger airlines, the economy for them is a little better, not for the rest of us, i think you're seeing dramatic service improvements at united, delta, i think if you conducted the survey for 2010 and the next two years, i think it'll be interesting to see how these stack up now with the low-cost carriers. >> you brought up one of the points that people in the travel service industry -- i mean the flight attendants are basically doing the exact same job. in some cases, for less money than they were ten years ago because of all of that restructuring. so how do the airlines turn that around when it comes to making sure that the people on the front lines of customer service are happy?

>> you know, and of course, that's going to change by each airline. southwest and even jetblue are famous for hiring people who are more of a better fit for their company than necessarily based on the experience on the resume. so they'll say this person will be a person who is most likely to make our customers happy. and we can train on the details for the rest. that's one way southwest is very successful keeping customers happy. very customer-focused front-line employees. now that we're seeing stability return. when you're losing 20% to 30% of your pay and your hours are longer and more difficult, it's hard to stay upbeat. and i think it's what a lot of these airlines went through. i think you're going to see less of that. and some of them are even starting to hire now. as tough as things may be, that can't help but boost morale. >> breaking it down for us on why we like certain airlines more than others. thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> you're welcome. nuns versus the vatican. catholic nuns fighting back,

apparently, in the face of investigations into whether they've strayed too far from the teachings of the church. it is now just about 23 minutes after the hour. kens. i was tired of living in my apartment. decided hey, let's go buy a house! i could go to quickenloans.com and sign all of the paper work i needed to take care of. and it didn't have to be between 9 and 5 -- which doesn't always work for me. the people at quicken loans really care. it was nice to being able to call them whenever i needed to answer questions. they were on it. they were on top of everything. quicken loans made everything super convenient and easy. so the fact that they could work with my schedule was just wonderful. that's why i love quicken loans! ♪

duare almost inseparable. she lifts her calf to its firstr breath of air, then protects it on the long journey to their feeding grounds. one of the most important things you can do is help the next generation. at pacific life, we offer financial solutions to accomplish just that. ask a financial professional about pacific life. the power to help you succeed. welcome back. this is the most news in the morning. and it is day two of pope benedict's historic trip to britain. there he is meeting with students of a catholic church today. yesterday for the first time the

pope admitted the church failed in handling sex abuse cases. the vatican is squarely at odds with american nuns. many of them feel under siege from the church. and the sisters are having their say. carol costello live in washington with an a.m. original this morning. what's going on with the vatican and the nuns? >> the vatican is conducting two sweeping investigations of american nuns. the latest round of visitations are now underway. and the vatican hopes to have a better understanding of how nuns live their lives in the united states. nuns don't see it that way, though. many think these investigations are nothing short of interrogations designed to take away all they've gained. >> some of my friends asked me why their vatican officials suffer from a deep seeded hatred of women. >> reporter: on her washington radio show -- >> could they be serious? >> reporter: -- the role of

women in the catholic church is a popular one. the talk has been heated ever since the vatican ordered two sweeping investigations into the religious views and lifestyles of american nuns. investigations that have alarmed many sisters like marlene whose organization represents thousandof american nuns across the country. >> we weren't quite expecting to walk into this kind of a process that would test our authenticity and our integrity. >> reporter: one of the investigations involved a two-part questionnaire of 120 detailed questions like, what is the process for responding to sisters who dissent publicly. how does the matter of the dress of your sisters lend to the dignity and simplicity of your location? and this, what are the procedures dealing with matters for civil disobedience, criminal activity, sexual improprieties, et cetera? >> i think they want to be able to control what nuns do.

you know, in every aspect of their lives. >> reporter: at this year's leadership conference of women religious, some nuns say these investigations feel like an inquisition and are fighting back by boycotting all or part of the questionnaire. >> okay. are we ready for prayer? >> reporter: she says many nuns fear the vatican wants to force them back into both. she also fears rome wants to silence nuns when they disagree with the pope like issues on gays in the church or women's rights, something the church now allows them to do. >> some of it might be a very deep seeded misunderstanding. >> reporter: the vatican is hoping that father tobin who was pointed the number two official for religious life can help calm the fear around these investigations. >> there is a need for a dialogue. and i think dialogue means the two parties are honestly

conversing in search of the truth. >> reporter: sister marlene hopes that's true, but -- >> there is no turning back. i don't think that that happens in any kind of living organism. god doesn't turn the church, doesn't turn creation in opposite directions. >> in other words, there is no turning back the clock for american nuns. our cnn analyst john allen tells us he expects the investigations will wrap up by december. and adds if the vatican wants the nuns to return to conservative lives, they should be patient. because young women who are considering sister hood are more conservative than their elders. and willing to return to wearing habits, although, convents, not so much. >> what is the fallout if anything in boycotting all or part of the questionnaire you were referring to? >> you know, we don't know. everything surrounding these

investigations is quite mysterious. the vatican isn't talking much about it. but they're hoping that father tobin can calm fears and get more nuns to answer the questionnaires and also to answer -- there are going to be people from the vatican coming in and having one-on-one conversations with nuns. and they're hoping the nuns will feel comfortable doing that if their fears are calmed down somewhat. we'll just have to see. we don't know. >> carol, what's interesting about this, these women who are in the catholic church have been fighting with the church forever for a greater role. in taking part of this. but are there any financial ties between these nuns and the vatican? i thought that nuns in this country pretty much were financially independent and had to raise money on their own. i'm wondering just why they even care -- >> i think you've hit the nail on the head. and the vatican is certainly aware of that. because nuns own universities, they own their own property, they very much -- you know, work for charity and social justice

issues. they're very much on their own and independent, yet they're very important to the church because they do a lot of work inside the church and for catholicism worldwide. the vatican wants to keep them, and the nuns know they have financial power. they don't want to split from the church or anything, they love catholicism. so hopefully all will be mended soon. but these investigations, nobody knows exactly why they're being conducted and that's creating all of this turmoil that doesn't necessarily have to be there. >> well, thanks, carol. there is the faith and then there is the catholic organization. and i guess that's where the two are disjointed from each other at the moment. an interesting couple of days. thanks so much for that. >> thank you. >> tell us what you think about the role of women in the catholic church. especially if you are one, you can join the conversation live right now on our blog at

cnn.com/amfix. and it's 31 minutes past the hour right now. we check our top stories. this morning new york city and some of the surrounding areas recovering from a short, but very violent storm. one person was killed during the evening rush hour last night. she pulled over to the side of the road and a tree fell on her car. a lot of witnesses say they saw funnel clouds forming. tens of thousands of people lost power. there's still a big clean-up in the works today. some commuter trains in the city, into the city will be suspended or canceled this morning. hey, troubling news on census data, 4 million new americans falling below the poverty level in the last year. that means more than 50 million people are too poor to pay for health insurance. the numbers expected to be worse next year with salaries and jobs taking hits. poppy harlow is going to break it down for us. also, harvard law professor elizabeth warren has been tapped to keep a close eye on the big banks in wall street. the president wants her to set up a new consumer protection agency and make sure that bankers are playing by the rules. the president will officially

announce his appointment this afternoon. time now for the latest news from the best political team on television. >> yeah, we're checking out the political ticker this morning. republican senator lisa murkowski is about to reveal her plans for the general election in alaska after losing the primary to tea party favorite joe miller. our senior political editor mark preston is live in washington with details. and it's interesting, mark, a lot of these long time establishment candidates are having to scratch their heads and say, wait a minute, am i going to write myself in? this could be the case in delaware, as well. >> no question, kiran. and drew, lisa murkowski, what is she going to do? she was this upset loss last month to the tea party favorite joe miller. she had the money, the name recognition, she should've won reelection. but guess what? she lost the primary. in fact, she was just here in washington yesterday talking to her colleagues, trying to figure out what her plans are going to be. kiran, there's more on the cnn political ticker on cnnpolitics.com.

we'll know more about her later this afternoon, later today. but moving on, in delaware, another upset. we saw christine o'donnell knock out mike castle, the republican establishment candidate there. well, guess what? joe biden who held that seat for 20 plus years is going up there to campaign today for chris coons, the democratic candidate. i will tell you, had o'donnell lost and mike castle had won that seat, democrats were concerned they were going to lose that seat. joe biden's seat would've gone republican. now that o'donnell has won, the odds makers are saying that democrats have better shots at that seat. and of course, closing it all out, talking about 2010 for the next several weeks. well, the value voters summit is happening here today in washington, d.c. it lasts over the weekend. what is that? a con fab of social conservatives from all across the country. they're going to come here and talk strategy and talk policy, and they're going to talk about

presidential politics in several presidential candidates, mitt romney, mike huckabee, rick santorum, they're all going to address this crew, and christine o'donnell. she's going to be here today. she's probably going to be the rock star. >> is this taking on new significance as we've been seeing the rise of the tea party and a little bit of a split between the mainstream gop and this new and very, very well-organized, it seems, other movement that's coming in there saying let's get more conservative, let's get back to our roots? >> yeah, and i will tell you, there is this incredible amount of frustration among establishment republicans because they don't really know how to battle back against this movement. they want to accept this movement in, they want these voters to vote for them in november, which will happen, but they had so many problems during the primaries. they had their own candidates, these establishment candidates. these candidates such as christine o'donnell, joe miller came out of nowhere. so, yes, republicans, national

republicans are glad that these conservatives are anxious and eager to vote. they're just a little frustrated that they've been fighting them through the primary season. >> hey, what's the odds on murkowski? i've been looking for any hints. she's playing this close to the vest. >> absolutely playing it close to the vest. look, drew, you spent a lot of time in alaska during the presidential race. you know that alaska voters tend to be finicky. she has the money, but doesn't have the backing of national republicans. late last night the senate electoral committee put out a statement in no uncertain terms and told lisa murkowski, you should do the right thing for alaska and back joe miller. it doesn't appear she has the backing of the establishment republicans. >> mark, you're a guy who looks at the polls all the time. it almost sometimes takes on a chess match. where you have to win here and there to shift the balance of power. and when you're talking about states like delaware like many people thought it would go republican. what are the chances now for

o'donnell that in the general election in delaware, a blue state, she'll be able to pull out a win against this candidate who looked like he was actually the -- lagging behind mike castle before this upset? >> that's a great question. if you talked to the tea party activists, the conservative activists, they say she has a good shot of winning. but if you look at the number, talk to analysts, talk to independent thinkers and what they think about the race, it looks like democrats have a better shot. moving into the general election, delaware is a democratic state. i will tell you this. the only chance she does have of winning this race is if the democratic support is dampened and the republican base is so energized they want to get out and put her into office. although, we've seen all these stories that have come out over the past couple of weeks about some of her past statements, a number of past things, which has been hurtful. and it doesn't help when karl rove goes on fox news channel

and attacks o'donnell. she has a tough road ahead of her. i suspect she'll get a lot of money, though, from social conservatives and base activists from across the country who want to see her win. >> boy, the biden family got to be regretting their decision not to run biden. >> not only were they concerned about delaware, but also illinois. that was president obama's seat. >> thanks. we're going to check back in with mark in the next hour. and for the latest on political news go to cnnpolitics.com. >> remember cherry garcia, the ben and jerry's flavor? >> yes, i do. >> well, there's a new one now. this is called bananabis foster, yes, ice cream that contains marijuana. and this is being sold in california.

>> part of the problem. 38 minutes after the hour. challenges as vast as the space race a generation ago. and vital to global security. to reach this destination, our engineers are exploring every possibility. from energy efficiency to climate monitoring. securing our nations clean energy future is all a question of how. and it is the how that will make all the difference.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. it gives new meaning to smokeable.

a marijuana dispensable. >> you just said that. >> said what? >> smokeable, i can't believe you just said that. >> well, it's on the prompter. medical marijuana dispensary in california is offering a pot-infused ice cream. the creator says it was his lifelong passion. >> everybody who has tried it has told us they absolutely loved it. and we've had lots of people who have come back for seconds, thirds, and fourths. you guys at home would love this. >> i know this is supposed to be funny. but i don't think it's very funny at all. this is part of the problem. a half pint would be like smoking eight joints. customers can choose from three flavors. bananabis foster, cheesecake, and triple chocolate brownie. >> don't try that at home. >> pot dispensaries like this

one are sending the wrong message to teens. saying that smoking pot or eating it isn't that big of a deal any more. >> marijuana to blame for most of it. jeanne meserve has more on the surge and what's causing it. >> drug use is up. is that because current policies don't work? or because talk of changing those policies has made drug use look less harmful? illegal drug use is higher than it has been in a decade. according to a new government survey, usage among americans 12 and over rose from 8% in 2008 to 8.7% in 2009. with an upswing in the use of ecstasy, meth, and particularly marijuana. among teenagers, marijuana use jumped from 6.7% in 2008 to 7.3% in 2009. though it is still less than it

was in 2002. >> young, heavy marijuana users are much more likely to report getting ds and fs than as and bs are more likely to be trouble with the law for crimes like left. >> reporter: it shows a change in teens' attitudes. >> it has a low risk compared to other things, i'd say. >> reporter: like? >> well, alcohol, for example. >> reporter: the nation's drug czar says fewer teens see marijuana as dangerous because of media coverage of current policy debates. >> i absolutely cannot rule out that this constant discussion of so-called medical marijuana, marijuana legalization, and the down playing of marijuana harms that is prevalent in the media. >> reporter: with california voting in november with a ballot issue legalizing marijuana, that debate has picked up tempo. earlier this week, the

organization urged the obama administration to take a strong position. >> we need a legal, regulated marijuana market. >> and that will lead to less teen use of marijuana? >> it has for alcohol, it has for tobacco. >> in fact, the survey shows the rate of teen alcohol and tobacco use stayed the same throughout the past year. other trends, the abuse of prescription drugs is up, but the use of cocaine has declined 30% since 2006. back to you. >> interesting. seems people are just changing what they're using to sort of get high. >> yep. yep, yep. it's now 45 minutes past the hour. rob's going to be along. we're still trying to figure out if it was an actual tornado that touched down. in fact, the new york area is still struggling trying to get the debris off rail lines like the long island railroad and others. we're going to talk more with

rob and see what your travel forecast has in store today. and in ten minutes, jeannie moos with the latest trend in automobile fashion. we're back in the blink of an eye. it's 45 minutes past the hour, mates. [ male announcer ] we touch a lot of things throughout the day. so it's nice that clorox disinfecting products help kill the germs that can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours. ♪ feels sweet when i can touch you ♪

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things that go on behind the scenes around here. sometimes we like to tell you about them. >> sometimes we can't. >> most of the time we can. but i'll tell you what, our crew is very excited for today. why? well, today they're celebrating a couple days early, international pirate day. >> some of them are dressed like a pirate. >> there we go. >> hey, look at that. >> he was going to borrow a gold hoop, but he didn't think he was going to be on tv. >> rob, we're missing you up here. you're not dressed like a pirate. you're like one of those british officers. >> i've always pretended to be a bit of a royal. but nobody wears an eye patch like peter. and even the peg leg. that was awful when that happened, but you get around like nobody i've seen. but, hey, listen. i just want to touch on this as long as we're talking about the pirates of the caribbean. this rolled into the bay, southern gulf of mexico.

category three hurricane karl. the coastline is going to get beat up with a lot of wind, obviously, and storm surge and coastal flooding and then it's going to slam into the mountains and it's going to go pretty much right over mexico city. talk about population. now it's going to get crushed with the mountains. there's not going to be a ton of wind when it hits -- but it'll be a ton of rain. they've got their hands full from the coastline to the highly populated city. also i want to talk about igor. this is going to get very close if not go right over bermuda sunday night or during the day on sunday and into sunday night and it could be a major hurricane there. they're preparing also. video from new york. boy, you guys got hammered. and this stretch from ohio to west virginia where there were confirmed tornadoes and fatality, and a bunch of trees down across new york city, from manhattan to queens. they may have been a tornado. it'll be much quieter and cooler

today as this cool front rolls through, and then another cold front coming down the pipe. this is going to bring higher elevation snow to the rockies. this is our first real taste of fall, that northern tier folks will be enjoying. i don't know how to say that in pirate talk. but that's the best i got for you. >> mexico city, is that storm going to move quickly? >> well, once these things hit the mountains, they typically slow down and get torn apart. but because it's going in as a major storm, it's not only going to have some leftover wind, it'll probably be a tropical storm or even depression by the time it hits mexico city. but it'll have wind and a torrential amount of rain. >> mudslides. >> going to be an issue, yeah. >> rob, thanks so much. we'll check in with you in the next hour, as well. hopefully more information on that potential tornado. sure looked like one. 50 minutes past the hour. we'll be right back. i'm a hot babe out jogging.

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risks, fees, expenses, and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. welcome back. there's a new trend. always something going on, especially with the eyebrows. well now it's car lashes. >> this is a trend hard to if anything figure if they call an accesso accessory. >> reporter: be careful you don't scrub off your car's eyelashes? car lashes, the latest automotive accessory, flexible plastic lashes you attach above your headlights, $24.99 a pair. >> it's adorable and very whimsical, but i don't know that i would put it on my own car. >> reporter: would you put lashes on your car? >> yes, i would. >> reporter: car lashes are aimed at women, not men. >> bmw, oh, please, you're messing up the car.

>> reporter: but on a pink caddy? they're the brain child of a utah couple. >> they really do spread joy in the world. >> reporter: dotty dreamed up a second accessory, crystal eye liner. but not everyone is seeing rainbows. >> unnecessary. a little -- might appeal to my children. >> reporter: like the pixar movie cars or a disney animation. creator robert small says -- >> i always thought that cars had personality that the headlights looked like eyes. >> reporter: they had friends like this one test market their car lashes. >> i am getting the most attention i've ever got in my whole life. it's bloody hilarious. >> reporter: as for whether fake eyelashes -- >> and then press the ends in -- >> reporter: -- or car lashes are easier to put on. >> car lashes. >> reporter: it takes about 15 minutes. you attach them with automotive trim tape that comes with the

lashes. unlike fake eyelashes, car lashes can even help you park by providing a mark so you know where the end of the car is. >> reporter: car lashes already have a male competitor, the car stash. maybe you'll never see them on danica patrick's race car or the presidential limousine. >> are they cute or functional too? >> reporter: well, what would you like them to do? >> i thought they were little windshield wipers that would bat their eyelashes as they clean. >> reporter: dotty says men may not put car lashes on their cars, but they like seeing women driving by with them. >> they feel like they're being flirted with a little bit when they see them. >> reporter: will car lashes give the guys whiplash? put a little hussy in your headlights. jeannie moos, cnn, new york. >> now i know what to get you

for christmas. you want the eyebrows -- >> those wild andy rooney things with the hair going way out here. >> yeah, right. >> that's not for guys. >> but the lady had point. if they were functional, if they could blink or wink, clear off a light, maybe sell more. then you'd consider it. top stories coming your way right after this break. >> maybe an eye patch. [ dr. banholzer ] every once in awhile there's a moment where everything comes together. where there's magic. and you now understand what nature's been hiding.

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good morning, i'm drew griffin, it's friday, september 17th. john roberts has the day off. >> i'm kiran chetry. a lot to talk about. we're trying to figure out whether it was actually a tornado. we know it was severe weather. the damage and destruction in a new york minute. a fast, furious, and fatal storm hit new york city and the surrounding region yesterday. the big apple still trying to

recover this morning. they're trying to clear some of the tracks on a long island railroad as well as a lot of people still without electricity. many don't have a way to work or school. so was it a tornado? we'll show you the video, the i-reports coming in throughout the night. well, she is the new sheriff of wall street, we're told. harvard law professor elizabeth warren picked to build a new consumer protection agency to keep the big banks and predatory lenders in line. it's a tall order coming from the white house. can she deliver? also ahead, drilling is now complete. bp finishing work on drilling that relief well in the gulf of mexico. now they're moving forward with the bottom kill. it's the procedure that would have bp's blown out well permanently cemented shut by the weekend. up first, though, this was really bad. thousands still reeling this morning. some scrambling for a way to work in the dark after a powerful and deadly storm tore through new york city last night. >> yeah, the national weather service has yet to confirm that it was, indeed, a rare new york

city tornado that touched down. but a lot of residents say we don't need confirmation, we know what we saw. >> it seemed to hit out of nowhere. >> you can see the rain just coming down in sheets now. >> reporter: a fast-moving, ferocious storm exploded over new york city and the surrounding area just as people were headed home in the afternoon rush. commuters became storm chasers. and in a matter of minutes, sheets of rain, dark, black clouds, 80-mile-an-hour winds, powerful enough to rip the brick off store fronts. and from block after block, from brooklyn to queens, trees came down, crushing cars, blocking roads, ripping down power lines. one woman was killed when a tree came down on her car after she pulled over on the highway. >> the only thing that's important is that people are safe. we'll get power back, the trees will regrow, but you lose a life, you never get that back.

>> reporter: severe weather also slammed parts of the midwest. people in ohio say they saw a funnel cloud leave this trail of debris. and high winds tipped over this tractor-trailer as neighbors looked on in shock. >> and i thought it was going to take our house and my family, but it didn't. we were lucky. >> i looked at my wife and said we've got to run right now. >> smart thing to do. rob marciano in the extreme weather center. what happens, though, you know, in a place like brooklyn where you're not used to seeing any type of activity like this? >> no, it's a scary proposition. that's for sure. and with this line that came through yesterday, you know, we expected to see severe weather roll through the ohio river valley. and we certainly saw that with numerous storm reports. one tornado that turned deadly. but look at these storm reports here in new york city and jersey from just the wind. and winds gusting over 60 to 70 miles an hour at times. here's the line that really -- it didn't really march down --

it kind of explode over the delaware and heading into new york harbor and down long island. this really popped. we said yesterday this is a pretty strong storm for this time of year. and you couple that with, you know, what's pretty strong sun angle this time of year, as well. so i think the daytime heating certainly got ahold of this and they're going to go out there with the storm survey team and they're going to check it out and see if, indeed, it was a tornado. certainly the damage looks like it could have been. but straight line winds of 70, 80, 90 miles an hour can do that, as well. 20-mile-an-hour winds, this is hurricane karl, category three storm. it's going to make landfall later on today and track towards mexico city. implications for the highly populated area. we'll talk about that plus igor later on this hour. guys? >> all right. we're going to check in with you, rob. thanks. other news, every predatory lender and banker on wall street being warned there's a new sheriff in town. her name, elizabeth warren.

the president plans to introduce her to america. the harvard law professor will be setting up a new consumer protection agency. ed henry live at the white house this morning. ed, doing a little check-in, we've got the federal reserve, the fdic, the ftc, the treasury, and the s.e.c., and now this. what is her job? >> oh, gosh, that's a pretty big alphabet soup there, drew. there's one agency after another. and yet, a lot of them were asleep at the switch during the crisis. will this bureau finally have the power to step in and prevent another big crisis? elizabeth warren this morning, new this morning, is talking pretty tough. she posted on the white house blog as saying there's a new cop on the beat. she's going to bring real accountability and says "the time for hiding tricks and traps in the fine print is over." we talk a lot in washington about the alphabet soup, the agencies, and also these powerful jobs that may or may not really have a powerful impact on people's lives. but this job that elizabeth warren is getting could very

well touch the lives of many, many of our viewers. if we go through what this new consumer protection agency is going to do. it's going to be overseeing various lenders, as you mentioned, making sure implementation of this new credit card law, all the new disclosure requirements, protect students over student loans. also, providing free credit scores to consumers. things the president has promised. they were in that wall street reform bill, but the key now is there really going to be a tough cop on the beat that's implementing what the president promised and what's written into law? interesting, the president decided to not name elizabeth warren, nominate her to the formal head of this new agency. that would've required senate confirmation, as you know. republicans have blocked many of the president's nominees. there were some potential road blocks to her getting that. instead, she's going to be a top adviser setting up the new office. she's been tough on the big banks. but the question is, whether she's really going to have the power to get this office up and

running and who is the president ultimately going to pick to actually run the agency? that's going to be really important in the days ahead. >> thanks a lot. the president's scheduled to introduce warren at a 1:30 p.m. news conference at the white house. ed, i'm sure, will be there. and you can see it live on cnn. well, fear and sanity sweeping through washington. comedy central funny man john stewart and stephen colbert announcing yesterday they're holding competing marches on the national mall. stewart dubbed his a rally to restore sanity and not to be outdone, colbert pulled out all the stops for his announcement. >> my fellow americans, two score and four days from now on october 30th, 2010, i am calling for the nation to join me ton the washington mall for the march to keep fear alive!

remember, government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth, but you might. >> well, john stewart's, by the way, is restoring sanity. he's holding his rally, as well. and they'll be held october 30th. that's some good editing, huh? >> that's hilarious. cnn equals politics and comedy. coming up in less that 30 minutes -- big political stories of the day. senior political editor mark preston. and also a washington state woman says she was attacked with acid that someone just threw it in her face. americans were outraged. heard her story everywhere. there was an outpouring of sympathy. now police have discovered after interviewing her further she apparently did it to herself. why? 8 1/2 minutes past the hour. lar, with the help of visa digital currency.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. a washington state woman who claimed an unknown attacker threw acid in her face now, well, admits she made up the story and did it herself. police say 28-year-old bethany storro initially told them she was about to walk into a starbucks when an african-american woman said to her, hey, pretty girl, do you want to drink this? and sprayed acid in her face. not sure if she will face charges for lying to police and not sure why she did it. pope benedict speaking today to some 4,000 students at a catholic school in london. the pope urged them not to be content with second best in their lives and said there were some future saints of the 21st century in that audience. well, an egyptian newspaper is taking a creative approach to try to improve the president's standing on the world stage with the held of photo shop. the paper doctored the image

showing him at the head of a procession of world leaders during the launch of the mideast peace talks. the original image on the left-hand side of your screen shows him clearly behind president obama and some of the other leaders on the stage. and then, the photo shopped image has him right front and center there leading the procession. it's since been removed from the website. a relief well has been joined to bp's blown out well in the gulf of mexico. saying that drilling has now been completed and that bp can proceed with the bottom kill procedure that process involves pumping the heavy drilling mud and cement from the new well into the bottom part of the original well, which would then permanently seal it. bp expects that whole mission to be completed sunday. and coming up next on the most news in the morning, we're going to be speaker to a professor about the newest development on the effort to kill the bp well. it's 13 minutes past the hour. ] [ drums playing ]

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welcome back, this is the most news in the morning. the last phase of killing the bp well in the gulf of mexico could be done. well, on the international talk like a pirate day, sunday.

>> that's right. and i'm sure they're going to be very relieved to have this behind them. is this the end? it would then permanently seal the well. but we're going to get some insight on this now by the petrole petroleum geoscience professor at the university of houston. what does it mean come sunday, don? >> well, what it means is that the very last step, the last corner that had been cut early on is going to be completed and finalized. it means they will seal the space around the well, the production pipe that they had that had a significant potential for a leak in the future. they'll have that sealed. and once this is done, that well will be sealed just about as well as the rocks around it. >> don, what does that mean for the oil that is still down there in that reserve? are they ever going to go back, drill another well and try to tap all that oil?

>> certainly when the economy is appropriate and the price of oil's appropriate, people will be motivated to do so. it costs a lot to drill wells in this area. and the size of the reservoir is not that big. and so, they will do this cautiously and make sure that it's economic. they have lost a significant amount of oil from that reservoir. but there still should be somewhere on the order of 80 to 125 million barrels of oil there. and that seems like a lot of oil, but these wells are very expensive to drill and also to produce the oil. in other words get the oil out of the ground and get it to pipelines. >> hmm, so that's interesting, so there is a chance that this could be it for that well? >> yes. from what i understand, they're not going to do anything with this well. but they could drill another well in the future. they could also sell this property to other parties,

including the partners if they want to to get rid of this acreage just in case it's not going to make enough money. >> all right. >> you know, one of the other interesting things they've been talking about is the potential discovery of this layer perhaps 1 to 2 inches thick coating the sea floor in the area near the deepwater horizon spill. there's been a lot of concern that, oh, 75% of the oil's gone or collected or burned off, the other 25% isn't doing any harm. if this is indeed the case, the environmental impact is not going to be known for a very long time. what happens now? and what is bp's responsibility in this? >> well, i don't know if anybody has any plans to excavate the oil sitting at the bottom near the well head. from what i understand it's not that extensive in terms of area. but you would expect to have some of the heavy components that did not get dispursed properly to settle out near the

well where you had so much coming out of the well and out of the ground for so long. it will biodegrade, but it'll take a little bit longer since it's concentrated. so in that immediate area, i think you probably will have an environmental problem. but in terms of a widespread problem, i think the greatest danger has been reduced because a lot of the oil's dispersed. and of course, people say it's dispersed and therefore it's gone. it's not completely gone, it still needs to be biodegraded. it's just in lower and safer concentrations in the gulf of mexico. and eventually the bacteria will digest most of that and it won't be too much of a concern. but we will have probably a small situation right around that well head for some time to come because the water's relatively cool, the bacteria act better when you have smaller droplets, but not so well when you have large concentrated masses. >> all right.

thanks so much for joining us this morning. and coming up, nuns versus the vatican. catholic nuns across the country fighting back in the face of investigations into whether they've strayed too far from the teachings of the catholic church. carol costello with an a.m. original. it's about 21 minutes after the hour. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪

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time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. welcome back. the most news in the morning happening right now. day two of pope benedict's historic trip to europe. and today he addresses students at a catholic school and met with religious leaders in london. >> for the first time the pope admitted the church failed in

handling priest sex abuse cases and he's expected to meet with victims tomorrow. here in this country, the vatican squarely at odds with american nuns. many feel, the nuns that is, that they're under siege from the church, which is questioning the quality of their religious life. >> ask the sisters have having their say about it. carol costello live with an a.m. original. good morning, carol. >> good morning, kiran and drew. two sweeping investigations of american nuns. the latest round of investigations will start very soon. the vatican hopes that these investigations will help them understand the way nuns live in the united states. of course, the nuns see it in a completely different way. they think of it like some -- they think of it like an interrogation designed to take away all they've gained. . >> some of my friends asked me -- >> reporter: on sister marlene's radio show, the role of women in the catholic church is a popular one.

the talk has been heated ever since the vatican ordered two sweeping investigations into the religious views and lifestyles of american nuns. investigations that have alarmed many sisters like marlene weisenbeck whose organization represents thousands of american nuns across the country. >> we weren't quite expecting to walk into this kind of a process that would test our authenticity and our integrity. >> reporter: one of the investigations involved a two-part questionnaire involving 120-detailed questions, like, what is the process for responding to sisters who dissent from teaching and discipline? how does the manner of dress of your sisters lend to the simplicity to your vocation? and this, what are the procedures for dealing with matters such as civil disobedience, criminal activity, sexual improprieties, et cetera? >> i think they want to be able

to control what nuns do. you know, in everiesy s aspect their lives. >> reporter: at this year's leadership conference of women religious, some nuns say these investigations feel like an inquisition and are fighting back by boycotting all or part of the questionnaire. >> okay. are we ready for prayer? >> reporter: fiedler says many who haven't been in the convent since the 1950s, fears the vatican wants to force them back in. >> some of it might be a very deep seeded misunderstanding. >> reporter: the vatican is hoping that father tobin who was just appointed the number two official for religious life can help calm the fears surrounding these investigations. >> there is a need for dialogue. and i think dialogue means that two parties are honestly conversing and in search of the

truth. >> reporter: sister marlene hopes that's true, but -- >> there is no turning back. i don't think that that happens in any kind of living organization. god doesn't turn the church, doesn't turn creation in opposite directions. >> in other words, there is no turning back the clock for american nuns. i was just reading through some of the blog comments that we got in earlier this morning. cnn.com/amfix if you would like to comment on this story. and drew and kiran, many interesting comments are coming in as usual. this from peter. is this just a ploy to divert attention from the problem priests have? should that questionnaire been sent to the priests? perhaps the church should start focusing on bringing back its block. as a young practicing catholic woman, i support the church in the investigation of religious sisters. it should not be taken defensively as if the church assumes religious women are doing something wrong, but rather it should comfort

catholics that the church cares enough to make sure that women religious are being held accountable. and i think one of the problems surrounding these investigations, it's all quite mysterious. the vatican hasn't given nuns a reason they're conducting these investigations. and i think that's where all of the tension and anxiety is coming from. >> it's interesting to read the comments. a lot of anger, but really well thought out discussions about how strongly people feel about this and the catholic church in general. so we welcome other people to get in on it. cnn.com/amfix to join the conversation. great stuff, carol. thank you so much. >> thank you. 28 minutes past the hour. time for the morning's top stories. it could finally be over, a couple of day's drilling has been complete on the a relief well intersecting with the damaged bp well that triggered the gulf oil disaster. bp is now proceeding with that bottom kill. the process of dumping the cement and heavy mud from the new well into the bottom part of the original well. in the end it's a permanent seal.

and it means it will never leak again. officials expect that to be completed by sunday. new york city in the surrounding areas recovering from a short, but extremely violent storm killed one commuter during the evening rush last night when a tree fell on her car. many witnesses say they saw funnel clouds forming. tens of thousands of people lost power. some of the commuter trains into the city are still suspended or even canceled this morning as crews try to clean up that debris. and more rallies in d.c., but these are interesting. john stewart announced last night he plans to host a rally to restore sanity, as he says. and the "daily show" host won't be alone. his partner in crime, stephen colbert announced a march on the same day, same location. >> for tonight i announce the rally to restore sanity. we will gather on the national mall in washington, d.c.! 1 million moderate march where we take to the streets to send a message to hour leaders and our

national media that says we are here! we're only here, though, until 6:00 because we have a sitter! a call for rationality! >> my fellow americans, two score and four days from now on october 30th, 2010, i am calling for the nation to join me on the washington mall for the march to keep fear alive! >> the hosts say the rallies will have some comedy elements. do you think? >> just some. >> and guest stars, as well. time now for the latest news from the best political team on television crossing the political ticker this morning. there's a lot of money being spent on political tv ads. >> more to come, mark preston live in washington with more on the details. >> i'll tell you what, i suspect a lot of people will be setting their tivos over the next seven weeks because we expect perhaps

up to $1 billion to be spent on political commercials just in this 2010 midterm election, if you can believe that. an eye-popping number. up to this point, we've seen about $285 million spent. but as history dictates, probably about 75% of all ad spending in an election occurs in the last 60 days. and our friend evan tracy over at campaign media analysis group tells us that. moving on, our own dana bash spent some time with olympia snow. she's very upset about mike castle, that delaware centrist who lost to christine o'donnell in that primary just a few days ago. olympia snowe says, look, the tea party has some very good ideas, but the fact of the matter is, this shouldn't be a purity test in the republican party. certainly if the republican party wants to become a majority and closing it out with everyone's darling or at least

every social conservative republican darling. sarah palin heads to iowa to head a fundraiser tonight. at least 1,000 people will appear at this reagan dinner fundraiser for the iowa republican party. the story up on cnnpolitics.com. kiran, drew? >> iowa, palin, always interesting when you put those two together, mark. >> no question. look, a lot of people said that sarah palin is really not thinking about running for president, maybe she's just trying to milk it, maybe get a radio career. maybe that's the case. but she's heading to iowa. and when people who head to iowa are looking ahead to 2012. >> it was fascinating to see senator olympia snowe. she got very fired up yesterday. and she said, you know, i don't know if people want this ideological test, this utopia, we don't live in utopia. and she was very candid about whether or not there's room in the party for people like her that will cross party lines on certain issues. >> and kiran, this is the fight

that has been going on for decades in the republican party. are some republicans not conservative enough? the real social conservatives consider olympia snowe a rhino, republican in name only. they don't accept her in the party, but she is right if the republican party wants to regain the majority, a ruling party here in washington, d.c., they just can't be a party that appeals to a certain segment of the party. so olympia snowe is absolutely correct about that. but as we've seen over the past year or so, we've seen a lot of moderates get drummed out of office. we saw bob bennett who is not considered conservative enough. we see murkowski lose her primary up in alaska and mike castle who can't win the senate primary. mike castle had been in washington since 1993 and the former governor of delaware. so yes, there seems to be some kind of purity test going on right now in the republican party. >> thanks, mark, we're going to check back in with mark next

hour for the political news. go to our website at cnnpolitics.com. is the tea party causing a "civil war" within the gop? david gergen and ed rolands join us to talk about it next. make you re-examine your approach. change your line. innovate. and create one of the world's fastest-reacting suspensions, reading the road 1,000 times per second. it's the turn that leads you somewhere new. introducing the new 2011 cts-v coupe. from cadillac. the new standard of the world.

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welcome back, i'm rob marciano in the cnn severe weather center. we want to talk about hurricane karl. if you checked in yesterday, this was sprung up to being a category one, now it's a cat three and about to make landfall on mexico. hurricane warnings are up here. they're beginning to feel the effects of this. the eye wall will be onshore later on this afternoon and the full brunt of it this evening. and actually, this thing is heading right up the mountains into mexico city. will probably still be that tropical storm by the time it gets to mexico city early tomorrow morning. they're going to see a lot of wind, obviously, but a ton of rain. and those mountainous areas, mudslides are a huge concern. there's your major hurricane that we have in the atlantic basin. major hurricane number two, which is igor, category three storm now with 125-mile-an-hour winds. and the forecast track still brings it up towards bermuda during the day on sunday into sunday night. so we're hoping this thing shifts a little bit more to the

east. if we do, bermuda may be spared. but computer run after computer run continues to bring it over that tiny, tiny island. severe weather yesterday across ohio and new york city. that front now pushing offshore. it'll be slightly cooler and more calm today. and we've got a serious front coming down from canada. severe storms possible across the plains and then temperatures behind that will be a good 15, 20, 25 degrees cooler than they are now. that's your check on weather. "american morning" is coming right back. i want to give my 5 employees health insurance, but i just can't afford it.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. vice president joe biden is headed to his home state of delaware today trying to defend his home turf. he'll campaign with democrat chris coons who is taking on tea party superstar christine o'donnell. up for grabs is the vice president's old senate seat. o'donnell tells cnn her campaign raised nrly $1 million in the 24 hours that followed her upset win in delaware's gop primary. a win that has a lot of republicans wondering about the party's direction. and joining us now to talk more about this as well as the other political hot topics. cnn senior political analyst david gergen and ed rollins.

now it looks like there's a big chance that this seat's going to go democrat simply because it's a blue state and she's quite conservative. what's going on within the republican party? is this civil war being overplayed? >> the civil war's being overplayed. the civil war has occurred on many, many occasions in the past when the christian right became a part of it. when reagan took on ford, people said the republicans are never going to get back together again. they obviously have. this is one race, this is one race we may not win when we thought we were going to win. but there's other places we're going to win where we thought we were never going to win before. angle has come back in nevada. dead even with harry reid. this is an election that's obviously got lots of movement, lots of change. >> david, as democrats sit back and watch this take place, i know there were interesting statements made after christine o'donnell won from democrats. what's the thinking right now of where the party needs to go to set itself up for wins in

november? >> well, the democratic party -- i think is fundamentally right. this election campaign has shown that there's a very, very heavy rebellion out there against the status quo. and that will favor the republicans. in some of these individual races on the republican side, there are clear splits within the party, and tensions within the party that are going to have to be addressed over time. but the democrats overall are still, you know, go into this the underdogs. especially in the house of representatives. i think they've got -- now got with christine o'donnell's win, they've got a very, very good chance of keeping the senate. what they have to do, what democrats have to do, i don't think they can nationalize this race very well. they have to win state by state, district by district by going after the other -- the opponent or trying to make the case you've got a better candidate. >> for republican leaders -- >> that's why joe biden is going into delaware. he's going to go in now because they think they can hold this. he thinks he's going to go in to

pump in coons. >> he can't raise $1 million in 24 hours. >> you're referring to to christine o'donnell being able to do that? >> there is a movement unlike anything we've seen in a long time. she may be a credible campaign by the end, we've got seven weeks to say. today, i'd say probably not. >> first poll out of the box was 16 down. they went from a situation of having mike castle as a republican nominee who was up and looked like a prohibitive favorite to she's 16 down. so this is -- this looks like a net loss. but you can't look at her in isolation, you've got to look at the bigger picture. and ed's right about that, the bigger picture continues to favor the republicans. >> the question is, though, for republican leaders, do they want ideological purity? or do they want to win back control of the house and senate? >> first of all, they're not going to win back control by republican leaders. the national senate committee -- when dave and i were in the white house, ronald reagan never endorsed candidates. when i ran the congressional committee, i never endorsed a candidate.

the senate committee has endorsed eight candidates that have lost, created chaos, tried to be a top down party. the grass roots is a powerful entity. it's alive, it's well, and my sense is they're going to be outmobilized. and by democrats calling them names isn't going to help. >> can i come back on that? >> yeah. >> i think there are dangers lurking here for republicans and i think there are dangers for the country. and that is it's not just christine o'donnell. the number of people who -- these insurgent candidates on the republican side who have knocked off incumbents, especially moderate type republicans mean that when after this election is over republicans will go back to the senate and go back to the house are going to be very, very leery of working with democrats on anything. because that's what's knocking off these incumbents. when it comes to solving the deficit problem, which balloons over to the country, we have to do that with bipartisan support.

you cannot get to here from deficit reduction without bipartisan support. if it means a death sentence for a republican to work with a democrat, i don't see how we solve the deficit problem. i also think, ed -- >> you'll never get the deficit problem unless the president deals with the leadership. the problem is they're trying to pick off the olympia snowes and what have you. when bill clinton was successful, he dealt with trent and he dealt with newt. and it's going to be up to obama to sit down with these people and give them something, otherwise he's going to get no support. >> and david, on that note. i want to ask you about the situation happening in the house. we heard nancy pelosi yesterday perhaps seemed to keep the door open to extending the tax cuts for all americans. this is a debate that's gone back and forth. whether or not anything gets done, this will be blamed on the democrats who are the party in charge, right? if they leave on recess or in december, the tax cuts.

they couldn't work with them to get middle class tax cuts instated. >> i think the most important thing for middle class americans is, the chances are 99.9% that some time before christmas, the congress is going to enact and extend these tax cuts for the middle class. i think the big question is, are they going to extend them for everybody else and what's going to happen to dividend taxes, state taxes, and everything else. those are very contentious. as a general proposition, you would think this whole effort to extend middle class taxes would favor the democrats. polls say that most americans want to extend middle class taxes and they don't want to extend them. in many districts, conservative districts, it is a loser for democrats to say let's raise taxes on the upper income. and that's why 31 of them have signed a letter in the house of representatives saying we want to extend them all. and that's what's putting

pressure on nancy pelosi to saying maybe we should extend them all. the democrats could mishandle this. so could the republicans. >> raising taxes before an election, the prospect gives every republican an opportunity to beat the daylights out of pelosi and any democrat that supports her. >> these 31 democrats and we talked to one of them yesterday. congressmen have basically tied nancy pelosi's hands, right? if it indicates it's not going to pass wouts extending it to everyone, at the end of the day, the democrats are going to be blamed. >> i think the chances of getting done before the elections are diminishing. and part because as gloria borger reported yesterday on cnn, there's no majority for any plan right now in congress. whether it's, you know, there are five or six variations of this tax plan. and there's no single one of those variations has majority support. this could well go over, be pushed over till after the elections.

but for middle class taxpayers, there should be assurances that it will get done. i don't know how, but it's going to get done. they're not going to go home and raise taxes on everybody. they will not do that. >> do you agree? >> i agree. always great to talk to both of you. thanks. hey, if your kid's going out to school this morning taking a test, forget about studying, you might want to have them run around the block. we'll be back with that story. 48 man and woman: ♪ it's the happy birthday song

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. some developing news to tell you about just in to cnn. police in london saying they have arrested five men this morning. there are reports they're being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. possibly linked to the ongoing state visit of pope benedict. this is according to scotland yard. five men arrested friday morning in london by counterterrorism officers on suspicion of terrorism. we have calls out. we'll get the latest on this developing story and bring it to you in just a couple of minutes. drew? all right. there's new evidence that exercise can boost a child's brain function. actually make them score higher on a test. joining us from irbana, illinois, professor of i can needology at the university of illinois. he is also authored a number of studies on how exercise can impact children's brains.

so, i mean, exercise makes kids smarter or exercise makes kids perform better? >> well, i think it might depend a bit on how you look at it but if your definition of smart is your ability to perform tasks and hold them in your working memory or your ability to pay attention to relevant items in the environment and ignore distracting items or process information more quickly or perform multiple tasks simultaneously i think we could talk about being smart. but certainly, we could definitely talk about your ability to perform tasks. >> that's what's so interesting about this study because in preparing for a test you may actually -- i teased it. you might want to run around the block but that is, indeed, true. you basically exercise these kids and then tested them. >> yeah. we've conducted research in the laboratory where we had children walk on a treadmill and then

they then performed cognitive tasks and academic achievement tests and the kids on another day sat quietly for the same period of time an we found after exercise they performed the tasks better, they were able to allocate more attention to the tests and higher academic achievement. >> there's science behind this. we'll show slides that you sent of a brain scan of a kid at rest and then after exercise. tell me what i'm seeing. i'm seeing, like, a warmer brain, i guess. >> yeah. you are actually seeing the same group of children in both. so we compared them against themselves and after exercise the red areas are related to their ability to allocate their attention to --out wardly to their worlds. after exercise better allocating

the resources. >> translated into better test scores and with show tested the kids before and after exercise and they just -- they did better. >> that's correct. >> so, you would suggest -- i mean to teachers who want to improve scores or improve the -- get the most out of their kids in testing, literally, send them out to recess and test them after that, right? >> yeah. i think that, you know, kids need that natural break and but more importantly i think that our work shows that they need to be active and following that bout of activity to perform at closer to cognitive peak. >> yeah. are you doing anything or have you done anything long term to show that physically fit kids just kids in general who are fit and exercise and get that daily energy boost are doing better in school, in tests? >> yes. we've conducted a number of studies that have shown that more physically fit kids, those that exercise frequently have

healthier brains, perform better on tasks and in school. >> chuck hillman, university of illinois, interesting stuff. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. a top story coming your way right after this break.

good morning. happy friday to you. september 17th. i'm drew griffin. >> i'm kiran chetry. breaking news out of london. word of arrests, five men arrested, potentially because of a suspected terror plot. we'll bring you the latest on that and following the latest on damage and destruction of new york city after a fast and furious fatal storm hit yesterday. the big apple still recovering this morning. a lot of people still without power and many don't have a way to work or school. was it a tornado? we'll find out more from the national weather service later today and also show you video of the aftermath. mixed messages of democrats. house speaker nancy pelosi not ruling out the possibility that the bush tax cuts could be renewed for everybody, including those they think are wealthy and that had republicans on the attack so is the house speaker

waivering on the issue? chief political correspondent candy crowley following it all. fda expected to soon decide the fate of a popular breast cancer drug. it's debating whether avastin should be approved for fighting the disease even though many women say it's helping them stay alive. so it's going to be two years with my daughter. and to me that's kind of priceless. >> smile big for mama. >> i mean, again, will willingly take whatever i can get to give me more time with my family. >> pulling its approval means insurance companies could stop paying for it. our elizabeth cohen looks at the debate and a woman's emotional plea to the fda. am fix blog is going on. please join us. cnn.com/amfix.

well, we have breaking news this morning about the pope's visit to london and police in london saying they have arrested five men. there are reports they're being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack linked possibly to the state visit of pope benedict. police satd they reviewed security after the arrest and the itinerary did not change. atik shubert is following the developments from london on the phone with us. >> reporter: we know they were arrested very early in the morning around 5:30 in the morning. they were arrested at a business address and they're still being interrogated. we also know that searches are being conducted at -- excuse me. there's a lot of security here. they're also doing searches at residences and other businesses in central london. now, the police will not say whether or not these arrests are linked to the pope's visit.

what they have said, however, is that as a result of these arrests they did review the security arrangements for the pope's visit. they're satisfied with the security arrangements as they are but again they won't link the two -- the arrests to the visit saying they did as a result have to review the security for the pope. >> do you know what kind of business this is that these men were arrested at or what kind of neighborhood? >> reporter: we don't know at this point. it was in central london. central london is, of course, where most of the pope's events happening this week and north london which is also where the pope was earlier this morning. i don't know if those locations are connected to the pope's agenda today but it certainly does seem to coincide. >> the other question is, a lot of people talked about how historic this visit was. the first state visit of the pope, the first time been in the uk -- pope been in the uk in nearly three decades.

were they prepared for the potential of a terror attack? is it something that they had spoken about prior to the visit? >> reporter: well, certainly something they had considered. security is very tight. i'm right now in front of westminster where i can tell you there's police everywhere here. they blocked off all of the traffic here, on the roads. certainly the idea there could be an attack was one of the contingency plans they have and clearly they feel they're prepared for it. the fact they reviewed the security again and happy with what they have got perhaps indicates that this is something they have taken into account already. >> all right. >> one more question. any sightings or any work being done by possible bomb squads, et cetera, in removing material or anything from the businesses as you know? i know you are not in that position to see that but have you heard? >> reporter: not that i know of. i do know those searches are ongoing and the questioning of

the suspects, the men, still ongoing and might see later on. i have not heard of that yet. >> okay. metropolitan spokesman telling "the telegraph" no hazardous materials found so far. that's according to "the telegraph." >> and no changes to the pope's itinerary. in terms of what these people were plotting, potentially plotting, that remains to be seen. also this morning, thousands still reeling and some scrambling for a way to work here in new york after a powerful and deadly storm tore through the city last night. >> the national weather service will confirm later today whether it was a rare tornado that touched down a. lot of residents say they don't need confirmation. they know what they saw. >> it seemed to hit out of nowhere. >> you can see the rain just coming down in sheets now. >> a fast-moving, ferocious

storm exploded over new york city and the surrounding area just as people were headed home in the afternoon rush. >> wow. >> commuters became storm chasers and in a matter of minutes sheets of rain. dark, black clouds. 80-mile-a-hour winds. powerful enough to rip the brick off store fronts. block after block, brooklyn to queens, trees came down, crushing cars, blocking roads, ripping down power lines. a woman was killed when a tree came down on the car after pulling over on the highway. >> the only thing that's important is that people are safe. we can always -- we'll get power back. the trees will regrow but you lose a life, never get that back. >> severe weather also slammed parts of the midwest. people in ohio say they saw a funnel cloud leave this trail of debris. and high winds tipped over this tractor trailer as neighbors looked on in shock. >> i thought it would take my

house and family but it didn't. i was lucky. >> i said we have to run. we have to run right now. >> all right. we'll be continuing to follow that with rob marciano in the extreme weather center. going do get out there today. man, trying to clean up the damage. the long island railroad still out in some of the places. is it a tornado? >> well, we'll see. certainly there was a little bit of twist and a tornado warning that went out and rain wrapped if it did occur and didn't get any verification by an actual observer and checking out the damage later on today and they'll get a pretty good chunk of it. if you have straight lines over 80 miles per hour it produces the kind of damage you saw in that piece and unfortunately for the folks in brooklyn, long island, new jersey, as the line came through knocked things around pretty good. it across the delaware, fired up and start to wonder a little heat island adding to the daytime heating, nonetheless, it was a rough storm. we do have this front about to come through now and cooler and

quieter. severe weather a threat across parts of the northern plains with the second batch of cold air. and then, where it's warm is hurricane karl have to mention this. more on this later in the program. now a category 3 storm, guys. major storm with 125-mile-a-hour winds and about to hit northern mexico as a major storm. major storm surge expected and wind surge. look at that eye, well defined and scary proposition for the friends at the south and igor late ore tn program. >> looks big from the satellite picture. we have to wait and see where it goes. thanks. house speaker nancy pelosi is not ruling out the possibility that the bush era tax cuts could be renewed at least temporarily for everyone including the top income earners. is she waivering on the issue or responding to other democrats saying they may not vote for it? we'll speak with our political correspondent next. it's 7 minutes behind the hour.

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we're following breaking news this london where the pope is visiting. police arrested five men. there are reports they're being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack that could be linked to the state visit of the pope. police say they were forced to review security for his visit after the arrest but they're confident that the pope is safe.

atika shubert told us that two locations apparently where the arrests were made. central and north london. other newspapers reporting in london no hazardous material is found but the searches are continuing. all right. we are going to get an update in a couple of minutes but it should be over in a couple of days. drilling is completed on a relief well that intersects with the bp damaged well that triggered the gulf oil disaster. bp can now proceed with a bottom kill, the process of pumping the heavy drilling mud and then cement into the new well into the bottom part of the original well to permanent he seal it. officials expect it to be complete by sunday. the house speaker nancy pelosi leaving the possibility open for extending tax cuts for everybody after she dodged the question of what would happen if wealthier americans if the tax cuts expire. >> joining us from washington now to talk more about this and the other interesting -- there's a lot of interesting stuff going on lately, candy, cnn chief

political correspondent, host of "state of the union" great to talk to you, candy, as always. are these mixed messages from the speaker talking about we will pass a middle class tax cut no matter what it takes but it could take giving it to the wealther in americans, too, right? >> well, i think what you're hearing, this didn't come in to me on the level that they come in to republicans who think she is trying to have it both ways. here's what i read what she said. we are going to have an extension of those middle class tax cuts. that's going to happen. then when she was asked sort of directly, well, what about will it just be for the middle class or this is not the exact question, just be for the middle class or will it be -- she said all i can tell you is that it will -- there will be this middle class extension of the tax cuts and then she said that she didn't see any justification

for extending tax cuts for the rich. one to me is her political position doesn't think there should be extensions for the rich and the other is practical and the political outlook which is she does have more than 30 democrats who want to extend those tax cuts for wealthier americans. and she's not really sure how this is going to work out. i didn't see it as her wavering but looking at it realistically. all i can tell you is middle class tax cuts will be extended. >> important to explain why if nothing gets done, thus nothing gets passed, all of the tax cuts expire including those on the middle class. >> exactly. it was passed as all one big bill and will expire as one big bill in january and need to do something about it and have another bill to extend those before january. >> what is so interesting about this, candy, and shows the chess game wide open and how this is being played is a couple of days

ago john boehner was in the same pickle only he was fighting the other way around. he says, okay -- >> tough to be leader. >> right? >> yeah. it's hard to be leader. you know? because you have what you think should happen and then you have the reality of what might happen. and i think, yes. i think it puts -- this is a political issue at this point. although it means very real money for american taxpayers. we're coming up against november and this is played out in a hotly contested political year. and what you see is john boehner trying to look both able to work with democrats and to look as though he doesn't want to look as though he's standing in front of middle class tax cuts, he wants to have that extension so he's sort of trying to, you know, play the politics of it which is, listen, there's -- i want to extend them for the middle class and of course if the only bill i get is for the middle class i'll go for that so

that's a political position rather than one he overall wants and i think the same holds true for pelosi. >> may not come up for a vote before election. >> they could play chicken and both run. >> they're good at that. >> i'm sure you're watching with fascination like everybody else what went down with delaware with the tea party favorite christine o'donnell trouncing the long-time and, you know, pretty popular mike castle who was a congressman there for the senate race. now, today, we have the values voters summit and she is speaking there. tell us about what people will be listening for and what it is. >> well, listen. i think it's not going to be surprising that she is very conservative on the social issues, on abortion the only exception that she sees as valid is if the life of the mother is threatened. she's had other social issues near and dear to the heart of core republicans. i think what's fascinating about

this, though, is less about what her positions are because i don't think that they'll be all that different from what we believe they'll be but that the tea party success has been made on fiscal issues. it's been about government spending. it hasn't been about the social issues. why? because the tea party at least those at the heart of it know that, you know, attracting independents is hard when you get into the social issues so now to have the darling of the tea party appear at a values summit where all of the issues will come up is fascinating to me because this is the kind of thing that most tea party organizers have tried to avoid is putting the social issues front and center. they have been far more about fiscal responsibility. >> very true. what's coming up on "state of the union"? >> speaking of values voters and the pea party, jim demint of south carolina senator who has been -- poured a lot of money into the candidates who have brought us the surprises of the season, i'll talk to him about

what it means for the republican party and what it means for november. >> all right. we look forward to hearing your take as you question him and we'll be watching, of course. great to see you, as always. >> thanks. >> 9:00 sunday morning here on cnn. that's a great show. candy's great. >> love her. let's move on. >> love to have her here every friday morning. i know. people you may not expect living in poverty. we'll have you meet the face of poverty next. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪ aveeno hair shines in real life. new aveeno nourish plus shine with active naturals wheat

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everyone knows a fee is a tax. you raised some taxes during that period, particularly the property tax as well as a lot of fee increases. as you know, there's a big difference between fees and taxes. but...they're the same. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. there's a big difference between fees and taxes. fees and taxes are one in the same. if it comes out of my pocket, it's a tax. now he says it isn't true. we didn't raise taxes. what? still doing the same thing, paying out more money. typical politician. definitely.

not good. we haven't seen statistics like this in decades. sobering, new data of the census bureau, one in seven people in this country living in poverty. that means 50 million americans without health care. >> if you think that's bad is unfortunately expected to get worse next year. poppy harlow is with us this morning and, you know, we talk about the numbers but you have to talk to the people. you sort of have the preconceived notion of what poverty means. >> sure. i certainly did before yesterday. we found out from the government yesterday 44 million americans, almost, living in poverty. record high. highest number seen in this

country ever since they started to count the people under that poverty line. the numbers don't tell the whole story at all. neighbors, colleagues. they're a lot of people you may not have expected. we spent the afternoon with a woman named ann valdez with three children. she's been living in public housing since she was born and she's been fighting to get out of poverty since she was 18 years old. >> president obama said today the number of people living in america in poverty is unacceptably high. >> this is true. poverty is really very serious. it's very demoralizing. it's made to feel demoralizing. hurtful. there's so much going on and there's no jobs available. no one wants to live the way we have to live. >> reporter: how do you get by every day, ann? what do you live on? >> i live on approximately $5,000 a year. sometimes i have to skip a meal to make sure i can save the money so that my son brian has what he needs. and if it wasn't for my sister,

my son would not have half of his school supplies or any of his clothing for school. >> reporter: joseph, how's it been for you? do you feel like you grew up in poverty? >> yes. but i wasn't deprived a good childhood. i'm happy. it doesn't matter where you come from. money isn't an issue. >> i gave everything i can to my children. if i had to go without, it's okay. as long as my children had. >> reporter: if you could have one message to send to the people watching, what would it be? >> my message would be never judge a book by its cover. never make assumptions. come outside. meet the people in your community where you live. meet the people in the communities where you work. and the meet the people in the communities where you represent. >> reporter: see the face of poverty? >> see the face of poverty. >> the afternoon changed my perception. especially here in new york

city. ann's been out of work since 2005. unemployment benefits ran out four years ago and she says she has two years of college and can't find work and the most troubling part of the government's report on poverty is american children suffering the most. those under 18 years old are the ones, kiran and drew, saw the biggest increase in poverty. a million american kids living below the poverty line. >> we saw her son. he is 28, in a similar situation. >> living in the same housing project. they live there. ann doesn't have a job. her son doesn't have a job. an enwhat's scary is that it's the cycle. and he has a 3-year-old child, as well. you hope that you can break the cycle but, you know, she -- you saw how emotional she got. trying to get out of it asking for more government help. how much can the government do? how much can the private sector do? how do you break the psych snl. >> we have to create jobs in this economy or they have to get a job.

i know it's tough. i know it's tough u i walked to a man that owned a small business last week and he said, look, i have jobs and people rather be on unemployment and i'll try to connect ann with that person hiring and see what we can do. >> let us know if that gets anywhere. great stuff. thank you. for more on the new census data and the state of the economy, head to cnn.com for all that. >> that's right. also, we are following the latest information on this terror -- potential terror plot disrupted in london. we'll bring you the latest on that, as well. five men arrested in london today. the food and drug administration considering revoking the approval of avastin, it is a treatment for breast cancer. many patients are saying it is a lifeline and they're pleading with the fda not to take it off the market. we'll have more on that coming up.

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a decision looming over the

heads of breast cancer patients across this country, the food and drug administration may revoke its approval for the drug avastin. >> it is a popular treatment for advanced breast cancer but in july an advisory panel voted 12-1 that it's not effective. our chief medal correspondent elizabeth cohen is live for us in atlanta. and this is a very emotional issue as you find for women finding out the disease and believe that the drug is the lifeline. >> reporter: that's right. they have stage iv breast cancer which means it spread to other parts of their body an they're hoping to keep taking the drug. they think it's brought them precious more lime with the ones they love. the first time ronnie got breast cancer she was 27 years old. when it came back, she was 31 and pregnant. >> and when i was 27 weeks pregnant is when i found out it was a reoccurrence of my cancer in which it spread from the

original site into my bones and this particular case into my right hipbone. >> reporter: little maddy was born healthy but the cancer is still in the mother's bones and now it's in her liver, too. >> i had a healthy, beautiful baby. >> reporter: most importants that get a diagnosis of stage iv breast cancer can expect to live only another year and a half. but she's lived two and a half years and counting and her tumors have shrunk a bit. why? >> i think first and foremost it's my faith and in god. >> reporter: also, she says, because of one of her medicines, avastin. she uses it in combination with chemotherapy drugs. >> people respond differently to different types of treatments and for whatever reason i have responded positively to this treatment. >> reporter: dr. ed it perez is her doctor. >> she was in pretty bad

condition. >> reporter: you have seen tumor shrinkage? >> yes, yes. definitely. >> reporter: this is the avastin here? >> yes. >> reporter: she is afraid the insurance might soon stop paying for avastin that's because recent studies show breast cancer patients on average don't live long we are avastin. plus, the drug has serious dangers including high blood pressure and internal bleeding. dr. joan mortimer was on the food and drug administration advisory panel that voted against avastin. >> i think based on the objective data that we have right now there really is no evidence of the benefits of avastin with chemotherapy outweigh the risk to the patient. >> reporter: without insurance coverage, there's no way for ronnie to pay for it on her own. how much money is it per month? >> again, it varies from institution to institution but it's more than $5,000 a month. >> reporter: that's a lot. >> a lot of money, yes. >> reporter: do you think

avastin is the reason why you have lived longer than expected? >> i don't know. i couldn't say that avastin is the reason why i have lived longer than i have expected. i is an i that it's a combination of a lot of things. >> reporter: maybe it's her other med sens or maybe just good luck. but she doesn't want to change the treatment that seems to be working. >> so, it's given me two years with my daughter and to me that's kind of priceless. maddy -- >> smile big for mama. >> i, again, will willingly take whatever i can get to give me more time with my family. ♪ happy birthday to you >> women who are taken avastin know that it likely is not going to cure their cancer. what they're hoping is at least a few more weeks or months of life. >> elizabeth, what is going to

happen? so, her insurance won't pay for it or it gets banned or taken off the market. is there any other option for her? can she get the drug somewhere else? >> it really depends on what happens. if the fda says this is no longer approved for breast cancer, it's still on the market for several other cancers. doctors can still prescribe it but here's the catch. if the approval gets taken away for breast cancer, insurance companies might say, wait a minute, we don't want to pay for something not approved by the food and drug administration and where the money comes in and patients might have to pay for it on their own which is really impossible for most patients at $5,000 or more a month. >> if her doctor prescribes it for her, is the insurance company beholden to say yes you can have or it says no? >> no. they're not beholden especially if it is not approved by the fda an insurance company is free to say, sorry, we are not paying for it. >> wow. >> all right. well, it's a tough situation.

no easy answers with that one. keep us posted on the ruling, as well as that family. we wish them the best. thanks so much, elizabeth. we want update you on a story breaking this hour out of london. police there say they have arrested five men on suspicion of terrorism. it comes as the pope is visiting the city. police say they're reviewing security surrounding the pope's visit following the arrests and searches under way right now. >> we are following this all morning. atika shubert in london joining us live. bring us up on the latest on this. >> reporter: basically, what we know is that five men arrested early this morning around 5:30 this morning at a business address in central london between the ages of 26 and 50. the police say they arrested them on suspicion of conspireing to either commission or commit a terrorist act. they won't go any further on that on any other details. what we know is that they're still being questioned an enthat searches are continuing at a business address and also a

residence in central london and in north london. we also know that it was because of these arrests that police prochted a review of the papal visit security. you can probably see behind me, there are a number of police officers out here. the streets blocked off with traffic. that is normal. that was already being done because of the pope's visit. the police say they're not -- they're satisfied with the security in place already and there will be no change to the itinerary. >> it's interesting. take a look at the press release, as well, from the metropolitan police saying suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. anything in the language that gives you any clues as to what may have been potentially happening here? >> reporter: we don't know what it may be potentially. what may have been the plot there. what it does seem to indicate is whatever it was was perhaps in a planning stage rather than actually being carried out. that's what it seems to indicate

from the statement but, frankly, we don't know because the police aren't giving out details at this point. what i can say, however, is that the vatican spokesperson very briefly spoke to the press saying he had informed the pope and that the pope was aware of the arrests and he remained calm and he had full confidence in british police and security here. so, whatever it is, it does seem that police certainly feel that they're in control and the situation is certainly safe for the pope to go about his schedule as it was organized today. >> and apparently he is going on with his schedule, atika v. you seen any changes in what this was supposed to be? we have information where he will drive, how much time to take. have you seen any changes whatsoever even behind the scenes? >> reporter: i have not seen any changes at all. i have to say the pope is expected to come right through here. we're standing in front of westminster and expected to go to westminster hall and then westminster abbie in the evening

and seeing people gathering hoping to catch sight of the pope. the traffic is closed off. this is standard. this is already organized from way before. this is a state visit. and the uk really invested a lot of money into securing the visit by the pope, more than $20 million to -- was invested into his visit so there's a lot riding on this. >> all right. thanks. we'll continue to follow your work all day today following the five men arrested, possible terrorists there in london. rick sanchez has a new book out. "conventional idiocy." he's coming up in a minute.

my joints ache so bad, i wake up in pain every day. i want to know why. i want to know why my hair is falling out. how did this happen? how did this happen? a little pain in my knee. that's how it started. that's how it started, this rash on my face. now it's like my body is attacking me. i want answers. announcer: when you don't have the right answers, it may be time to ask your doctor the right question. could i have lupus?

welcome back. my next guest says it's time for the conventional idiots to wake up. he's cnn anchor rick sanchez and author of the new book "conventional idiocy." i'm glad you woke up this morning to get in here to talk to us, rick. >> i had a little help from my wife, my kids and my dog. >> that's right. and you finally made it here. yeah. i want to ask you, though. you are watching this happen. all of this unfold. some of the big upsets on primary night in places like alaska and delaware where everyone said they don't have a shot and it was, you know, grass roots and a lot of angst that really brought these people that didn't have any experience in the political world into a new role. what's going on in america right now? >> well, the reason i named my book "conventional idiocy" is

because for the amongest time we're told there's a conventional wisdom out there. these pundits, so-called experts appearing on television telling us this is the way this is the way this has to be and there's americans getting together, they're engaged, they're getting together in social media, places like twitter which i use, facebook which my wife and a lot of her friends are on. sqype. this is a cyber porch if you will. for the first time in 100 years in this country, i've discovered it. it's made me better. it's made me more aware of what's going on out there. and it's why i think this is the kind of book that you can give to someone and they would be able to improve their lot just unlsing how they themselves can now connect with everything else that's going on out there so these people who are doing this, these people at the front of this movement that we call the

tea party movement or whatever we want to call it, that's part of this. that's part of this engagement. now, the focus that they take, that's another matter entirely. >> yeah. i was going to say that's the portal. you are talking about the access that we have because of ok technology but what's the spark? is it the economy? >> oh, no question. there's no question that what's going on in this country is frustration. people are feeling it. and people don't know exactly how to vent it but they just know that they want to vent. usually they'll take the very first path they find and the problem is using social media they will be able to gather in groups. look. there a es no -- kiran, there's two big social media phenomenon that's happened in the last three or four years in this country. one is the election of barack obama. a lot of folks forget, that was all social media driven. mybo, his site hiring chris hughes an i explain in my book

put this guy in the white house. right? then you have the tea party group. who are those folks? they were essentially established on social media, as well. the problem is oftentimes some of these organizations and groups co-oped if you will by organizations to funnel their energies in a direction that they even themselves may not be able to understand. they're being driven toward. but, you know, it happens. that's why i did my interview with rick scott who essentially was doing that very thing. using his money to get the tea party folks to be completely against the legislation to change health care when, in fact, that's not what the tea party got together for. it was about making sure we didn't over tax and reduce the size of government. >> that brings me to the next point. when people write to me on twitter and e-mails say i'm frustrated that all the noise, meaning everybody's got a mega phone now in part because of

technological advances and so the extreme views get out there, rumors get out there. misinformation and at times very incendiary things like the burning of the koran debate that co-oped the national conversation all last week. >> but it's less apt to happen if there's a dialogue as opposed to a dualogue. this is why i believe it's incorporated by you and people in our business. it gives you an instant consensus. it gives you a reaction to a story. it gives you the story sometimes when people tell you like they did last. this is my backyard in brooklyn, rick. trees are down. people can't get out of the city. here's a twit pic. here's new information on the fire. >> we love that, i know that.

you don't think katrina would have happened to the extent of the tragic aftermath if we had social media or at least used it as much back then. >> we weren't able to build the consensus of what was going on and unfortunately many of us in the media came to the immediate conclusion that there were a bunch of minorities down there who were rioting and they were misbehaving and killing and shooting each other and they were looting. well, in fact, there were a bunch of people who were very hungry, very desperate, unled and some of them were taking things to feed their children in most cases. somehow that changed. if those folks at the time had been able to have the ability to tweet, the ability to facebook, myspace, reach out to others, that consensus would have been built. the problem is not as we interpreted it and i get that thing. it's the immediate reaction. you know what? it works for me and i'm a broadcaster and made me better and improved by show. it can work for a guy who has a drugstore in a small town.

it can for somebody trying to connect in their own community politically. an enthat's why we have seen this guys like john boehner and sarah palin and john mccain tweeting rick sanchez every day to get their message out. they understand, hey guess what. there's a bunch of people in that community. we want to reach them, too. i think it is a good thing. >> that's right. you can teach old dogs new tricks. even my parents a little bit, a little bit. not into twitter but getting there. >> good to see you. >> you, too. your book is great. been enjoying it. "conventional idiocy." okay. storms coming up next. we have got hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms and rob marciano's wrapping it all up for us. bold. daring. capable of moving your soul. ♪

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sunday, international pirates day. >> chocolate -- >> there's a distinction? >> it is a month from now. i'm kidding. >> hey, rob. new york city's looking good today kind of sort of. better than yesterday. >> absolutely. definitely looking better. sending dean baxter up there on the steady cam. doing a great job. making me look bad buying everyone doughnuts. better in new york today.

it's certainly not looking like this. this is what it looked like last night when that radar, storms came through, just blew up as they cross the delaware river. boy, check out the damage from the new york city area from brooklyn especially. parts of long island including queens and some damage, also, in parts of jersey. trees down. power lines down. a fatality of a tree landing on a woman's car and a fatality in ohio with a tornado that ip ar d ripped through that. athens, ohio. turbulent weather yesterday. today looks to be more tranquil. this is a strong cyclone for this time of year. the sun is strong, as well. you have the heating of the day in jersey and new york and that helped antagonize things a little bit. severe threat in the plains today in advance of the next cool front and actually downright cold and seeing some snow at the higher elevations of the interior west there and folks in the western great lakes

will be seeing temperatures that will feel a little bit more like fall. all right. hurricane season. hurricane karl, a category 3 storm. look at this eye developing here. this is making landfall or will be in the next few hours. could be a category 4 storm before it does that. slamming into the coastline. storm surge, flooding. hit the mountains, wring out maybe some mud slides on the eastern slopes and kind of sort of get to mexico city. they're so high up in elevation. the mountains east of mexico city getting hammered. folks in bermuda getting slammed. hurricane igor, category 3 storm. tracking it to potentially hit bermuda on sunday. reynolds wolf and cnn team enroute to report live over the weekend. "american morning's" coming right back.

welcome back. this is the most news in the morning. all year we have been introducing you to remarkable,

every day people changing the world and in one week we'll reveal the top ten cnn heroes for this year. today, we wanted to check out with one of our 2009 hero of the year to see how the recognition has transformed his life and his work. let's take a look. >> cnn hero of the year is efron we that florita. he's come a long way. >> we are the change that this world needs to be. >> for 12 years, he and his team of volunteers have pushed their mobile classrooms through the streets of the neighborhoods teaching kids who never make it to school. >> hi! >> but after being named 2009 cnn hero of the year, efron became a national hero. >> this is really overwhelming.

>> upon his return, philippine president presented him with one of the country's highest honors. one year later the pushcart classroom model is replicated and inspired the construction of an education center in part funded by the cnn grant. >> they see it as a symbol of poverty poverty. >> he ease had his story seen weekly in the search for heroes on philippine television. a young man from the slums turned the ateng of a nation into a dream. >> my fellow filipinos elicit the hero inside them. thank you. >> so who will be the cnn hero of the year for 2010? you actually get to decide. next thursday, we are going to announce the top ten finalists, i guess, at 1:00 p.m. eastern

and when you can vote online for the cnn hero who inspires you the most. all ten will be gathered on thanksgiving night at cnn heroes, all-star tribute hosted by anderson cooper. only one is named the cnn hero of the year. >> i wouldn't want to be a judge. there's so many people doing amazing things. >> it's great to see no matter who wins. who cares? they're all great. just about four minutes before the hour. we'll be right back. ♪ i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back.

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and we want to update you now on breaking news. there have been five arrests in london on suspicion of terrorism. these arrests five men come during the pope's state visit there. police saying that they have reviewed security and that they're actually not changing the pope's itinerary but searches under way right now. investigators sayhe